turksbride12

My friend from NY who got married there a month before us took her paperwork in and she was told it wasnt recognized here. Our courthouse in PA is far from our house so I called to save myself a trip and the woman on the phone told me that we'd need to get married here. Maybe I'll drive down this weekend and see what happens...? Keep you girls posted!

Christina- We used Ileana from Brilliant for photos who I cannot recommend enough! I also used Shenique from Sheque Perfection for hair and makeup, which came out just the way I wanted it to.

Thanks so much! Here's the info on my dress: http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/dresses/53352/Tara-Keely-2155-Size-4.html I'm so happy we kept it simple, our ceremony was about 10 minutes at the most and I would have been so upset dropping $$$ on the beach decor I was going back and forth about. Also, I just found out that our marriage is not legal in the US!!! Note to all you future brides out there: dont spend a fortune on a coordinator to take care of paperwork, pastor, FedExing documents back and forth when it wont be recognized here. So bummed about this since EVERYONE I talked to said it would be legal here and I wouldnt have spent the extra money for basically nothing!

That was us! Ileana did such an amazing job with our pictures, I am so happy with the way they turned out! The Coral House was just insane, its so beautiful that its hard to take a bad picture there and the staff really spoiled us. I tried to look through my google docs but I cant find our original playlist list and I'm not sure how to share them from iTunes. We listen to the laid back beach music station on Pandora a lot and got a lot of inspiration from there. It changed a lot for us once we started listening to the order of things and so on. We had a good mix of beachy (but not Bob Marley ish) and regular songs that we like. We completed it 2 days before we left... dont do that because it stressed me out to no end. I did a lot of googling on how to make wedding playlists and there are so many helpful sites out there if you are willing to really put the time in and organize it. If you are going to do the iPod route just make sure to do sound check so all the songs are the same volume and do a 5-10 second crossfade for dancing so there's no awkward pauses between the songs.

I just got married a few weeks ago in T&C, but I was told by our planner that the marriage was recognized in the US. We are still waiting on paperwork but she said there's something we need to file in the US once we get everything from her. Not super helpful but I wanted to chime in with what I was told.

For the iPod we made different playlists: cocktail hour, first dance (which had a song before so we knew when we would be up and after our song so that there wouldnt be dead air after our song ended) and reception. Our planner manned the iPod and switched the playlists when it was time. We had people dancing from when it first came on until when it ended. We had family and older guests on when it first started (more oldies/fun/slow songs) then about an hour and a half in it was more party music and it was just our friends. I'm not sure how to share a playlist with you... lemme check thru my google docs to see if I still have a list that we worked off of. I will share our pics when we get them for sure. Happy planning!

We got married at Coral House with 45 people and it was beautiful. We started planning August of last year but honestly didn't need all that time for planning, everyone we worked with was so responsive. I wanted to give our guests as much notice as possible so they could start saving/planning their trips. We sent out our STDs last August and our invites in Jan with a March RSVP date for our June wedding since the house needed a final count 2 months prior. We didnt do a hotel block, we literally had people staying everywhere based on price and the kind of resort they wanted to be at. We were down there for a week, as were most of our guests but we had some do 3 days and others do 10. We did a private charter with Caicos Dream Tours 2 days before the wedding, I worked with Kristine and everyone had a great time. We had 22 people on the boat so it was the same price pp for a private boat as it was if we were to go with other people so that was a no brainer. Everyone really loved the cruise, even those who were on the fence about doing it in the first place. We had no issues with customs bringing that much stuff in since it was all packed in suitcases. We just looked like a wreck carrying garment bags and pushing all the suitcases through the airport. Even traveling with my dress was so easy. Security let us get in the front of the line at the airport (your arm will get tired of holding it up!) and the stewardess laid it down in the overhead bin that took up 2 rows and closed it and said if anyone had an issue with me taking up the giant bin then they could talk to her. She said it would be smushed in the first class closet but that's where we hung my FI's suit. The house had a iPod hookup with great speakers and past brides successfully used that without a DJ so that's what we did. We spent hours and hours on the playlists getting everything in the right order, making sure there was music to please everyone, etc and it worked out fine. I was going back and forth about a DJ but I got to a point where I was so tired of spending money on the wedding so I'm really happy that worked out well. We also had Correy Forbes on the beach playing guitar for us for an hour during the ceremony and through formal pictures on the beach which was nice. Our planner was Teresa Brunner who was very personable and knowledgeable and I booked because she offered day of services, everyone else required full on wedding planning. I like to do a lot myself but I didn't want to be worried about all the details the day of. She took care of booking the pastor and all of our paperwork, and when the day came she set up all the tables and really made it so I didn't have to worry about anything. My only complaint was the increased price quotes of items I got from her. I completely understand planners adding a 10-20% service charge on items since I know they need to make money but I was put off by how increased hers were. For example, $10 to rent a single charger plate (bought these for $1 each at Hobby Lobby), $15 to rent a place mat, $50 for a single hydrangea stem in a bud vase. So I got our reception rentals and flowers directly through Environmental Arts and brought the rest of the stuff down with me. I would have loved for her to take care of things without my involvement, which she would of, but I had an issue with such a large increase. We also had zero ceremony decor which stressed me out for no end but at the end of the day I didnt want to pay $1200 for an arch for 15 minutes or $400 for some driftwood pieces I didnt really like in the first place. So we just had the rows of white chairs and it was totally fine. The strip of beach where the house is at is away from the hotels and you dont have to worry about people walking by etc. Everyone was blown away by how beautiful the house was that it wasnt an issue and I feel dumb thinking of how many nights I was up worrying about it. The house was our splurge so we left it at that.

I provided pictures the day of and I really liked my hair. I had it in a low bun with a braid and it was perfect, just like the pictures. She does offer trials but the services were expensive enough, IMO that I didnt want to pay for a trial because it was $250 I think. The good thing about that though is that she will change the style when she's done if you have a welcome dinner or whatnot and want to be all prettified for that so you wont show up with your wedding hairstyle. I was emailing with Ileana when we booked and asked if she could do our pictures and there was no issue about her showing up or passing our wedding off to someone else. She has sucha great personality and was really sweet. I will PM you the link to our pix when we get them if you want. We had her for 5 hours total. I also brought three suitcases down of wedding decor because our planner really increased the prices of things for us and I was really discouraged/upset by that so I did everything myself and brought stuff down that I bought at home. We were in first class and brought a total of 5 checked bags and didnt have to pay anything extra. I bubble-wrapped and boxed everything inside the suitcases and had no problem, and I packed a lot of glass items. Which caterer are you using? We used Kissing Fish and everything (service, food, working with them) could not have been better. I am really into food and was blown away with how good everything was, our guests are still talking about it weeks later. Seriously, the were THE BEST!

I just got married last weekend and used Ileana from Brilliant who was amazing- if you are still looking for a photographer I would totally recommend her! I also used Shenique for hair and makeup and it was great. I was hot but my makeup held all night (I got so many compliments on it) and I had an updo since I was worried about frizz too. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.

I've never heard of her. Maybe she's new?

I have not heard of her. I am using Teresa from Tropical DMC- PM me if you'd like more details.

Krys- your posts are so so helpful! I am using Environmental Arts and we arent doing very flower heavy centerpieces as I cannot stomach $20/stem for peonies. Natalie at EA will work with you based on your budget and while very friendly and helpful, the team isnt that great and getting back to you promptly so it may be a few days/week or so before you hear back but their work is great.

We're getting married June 2012 too and we are using Correy Forbes as a guitarist for the ceremony- he was highly recommended.

Is this still available?